Cap-finger.



S. KAYE.

cvAP HNGER. APPL1CAT10N FILED .lULY12.1913.

Patented July 31, 1917 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

1.111111 ll/ 111.. l

S. KAYE.

CAF FINGER.

APPLlcATloN FILED JULY 12. 1913.

Patented July 31, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2' Y the throat UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

SAMUEL KAYE, YOIE COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI.

CAP-FINGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1917.

Application led J' uly 12, 1913. Serial o. 778,714.

To all whom t may concer/n:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL KAYE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Colum-` This invention'consists in a finger adjust-v ably supported in a suitable yslide in connection with a sleeve and receiving cup, the two latter being slidably and concentrically sleeved upon the vnger and located in position to. be acted upon by a lling-head, which, when lowered with respect to the finger, first has the eect of pressing the receiving cup downward against the action of a spring until the cup has moved a certain distance, when it causes a release of the sleeve from the cap-nger by permitting the lock which holds the two together to drop partly to one side into a recess formed for it in the upper end of the receiving-cup. Thereupon the sleeve is permittedl to move downupon the'nger by gravity or otherwise 4with the continued downward movement of the receiving-cup, thereby leaving the upper end of the'finger protruding above Y the sleeve justas thethroat ofthe fillinghead has descended to receive the cap. This is thrust into the throat where it is held-by V.the frictional engagement of the outer edgev ofthe cap withfthe tapering walls of the throat. Thus the finger virtually reduces in sizejust before or as-the throat drops vinto position to receive the cap, after which the filling-head is lifted with the cap in readiness to fill a bottle to be inserted through the mouth of the (filling-head (in the place previously occupied by the linger) to vbe filled and capped. I Y v l In the accompanying drawings zlFigure lis a view `inside elevation,

'Figs 2, 3, and 4 are sectional views at right angles to Fig. `l on Athe line 1-1 of that figure showing the-parts in different positions they assume,

Fig. 5 a horizontalsection, and

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of the capchut This invention coperates with the vfillinghead set forth in application Serial No. 778,715 led simultaneously with thisv application,-in that its function is to guide and support the bottle-cap while the heady receives ther latter and frictionally holds it preparatory to receiving the mouth of the bottle to be lled, ready to apply the same to the bottle on the completion of the filling operation,

the machine.

The numeral 1 represents the cap-linger. This is provided with a screw-threaded lower end 2, which'is adjustably held in the slide 3, which latter fits and slides in correspondingly-shaped guide-grooves 4, 4,

the rotary table 5.

A sleeve 6V has two bores toy fit the capfnger upon which it is slidably mounted, the shoulder 7 between the bores operating as a stop-to prevent further movement of the sleeve ,in an yupward direction upon the linger. Y

A receiving-cup 8 is slidably mounted on the sleeve. This is stopped in one direction by the shoulder 9, whereas inthe other direction Vitv is limited Yby the lball-lock 10, which plays in and out ,through an opening 11l formed in the sleeve 6,A the ball beingof greater diameter than the thickness 4of the sleeve at' the opening lland is formed so v that'under normal conditions it rests partly in the notch 12 in theI side of the finger and f the elongatedy groove 13 in the wall of the cup, thus locking the linger and sleeve` together, and permitting the cup to slide up anddown freely on the sleeve while precluding its turning axially. Y

The upper end of the groove 13 is enlarged to form a pocket 14,which receives the balllock 10 when the receiving-cup shall have been depressed or forced down to the position shown in Fig. 4. This causes A after which the fillinghead is lifted andthe bottleremoved from a release of the sleeve 6, permitting'the lat--n ter to move down with the receiving-cup byV gravity or otherwise, away 'from and exposing the upper end of the finger 1, leaving the cap C resting upon the stripped'upper end of the finger, the sleeve clearing the way, and theinger thus becoming reduced in Size so asfto'enter the throat TV of they' illing-head, This vthereupon 'comes down Y over the end of the finger and the cap, resulting in the edges of the cap being held frictionally against the wall of the throat, and the body of the cap brought against the rubber plug P in the throat, which latter insures seating the cap properly and forces thel bottle free from the throat when theV head lifts or rises from a bottle after it has been capped.

The caps are fed down through the chute 19, whence they lare raked by the lugs 20, 20, on the upper end of the cup 8, as they pass through the slots 21, 21, in the travel of the finger with the rotation of the table 5. One cap C is raked from the chute at a time, it being held centered upon the upper end of the finger 1, which normally protrudes just slightly above the upper end of the sleeve, which upper end of the sleeve is normally slightly below the upper end of the cup, thus forming in effect an annular groove of which the upper edge of the sleeve forms the bottom wherein to receive the edge of the cap, all of which is shown in Fig. 2.

he vertical bottle-guide 25 secured to the outer end of the slide 3 receives the bottle. The slide is reciprocated by a cam (not shown) through which the anti-friction roller 26 travels.

The bottle-guide 25 is adjusted to the size of the bottle by the nut 27 of which there are two, only one, however, of which is shown in Fig. 1, just as the finger is raised or lowered according to the height of the bottle by turning its threads 2 in the slide 4.

The bottle-guide 25 acts as a gage to center the bottle beneath the filling-head when the finger is withdrawn due to the slide moving inwardly, the bottle being retained within the bottle-guide by means for obvious reasons not shown and described in this application.

The guide also serves as an ejector for the bottle after the latter has been filled and as the finger is restored in position beneath the filling-head.

In the operation of the machine, the rotation of the table 5 causes the lugs 20, 20, to pass through the' slots 21, 21, in the capchute 19, and to rake out a single cap C for each linger. The parts at that time are in the normal relation shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which the upper end of the sleeve 6 is just a trifle below the upper end of the finger and the receiving-cup, thereby forming an annular groove or well which receives the outer flange of the cap and forms a uniform support therefor throughout the entire length and breadth of the cap flange while the center of the. cap is in position over the end of the cap-Enger.

The advantage of this is perfectly obvious as will be seen by referring to Fig. 3. In the descent ofthe lling-head H, the re- After a cap has thus been placed inthe throat, the filling-head lifts from the finger, allowing the sleeve and receiving-cup to rise and resume their normal relative positions with respect to the finger, after which an empty bottle is moved into the place previously occupied by the. finger, whereupon the head again descends over it until the elastic ring 17 shall have descended far enough to embrace the bottle-neck to make an air and water-tight joint, when the bottle is lled as explained in the accompanying application. After this, the cap is clenched in place around the bead at the bottle-mouth, and the head again lifts away from the bottle,

and the bottle is discharged from the ina-v chine.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a cap-Enger, of

a sleeve and receiving-cup concentrically mounted thereon, the sleeve and cup slidably connected with each other and the sleeveV slidably mounted on the finger, and means for automatically locking the sleeve and finger together.

2. The combinationwith a capeiinger, of a sleeve and receiving-cup concentrically mounted thereon, the sleeve and cup slidably connected with each other and the sleeve slidably mounted onV the linger, and means for automatically locking the sleeve and finger together, said locking meanspermitting the receivingfcup to slide while precluding its turning at the same time it locks the sleeve to the cap-finger- 3. The combination with a cap-finger,-

sleeve, and 'receiving-cup, of means for automatically locking thesleeve and finger together, and for permitting the receivingcup to slide and preventing its turning on the sleeve. f

4. The combination with a cap-linger, sleeve and'receiving-cup, of means for auto- `matically locking the sleeve and finger, and

for permitting the receiving-cup to slide while preventing its turning on the sleeve, said locking means serving to automatically lock the sleeve and iingertogether.

5. The combination with a stationaryA caplinger, a sleeve and receivingcup concentri-Y` v ing the receiving-cup in its vnormal position,

of means for automatically locking the sleeve and finger together in such relative position with respect to the receiving-cup that an annular groove is formed at the top of the cap-finger in position to receive the iange of the cap resting on the sleeve with the center of the cap over the end of the iinger.

6.` The combination with a stationary capiinger, a sleeve and receiving-cup concentrivcally mounted thereon, and a spring yieldingly sustaining the receiving-cup in its normal position, of means for automatically locking the sleeve and finger together'in such relative position with respect to the receiving-cup that an annular groove is formed at the top of the cap-finger which receives the flange of the cap on the sleeve with the center of the cap over the end of the finger, and means for adjusting the height of the inger.

7. The combination with a cap-finger, a sleeve, and a receiving-cup, the latter two concentrically and slidably supported by the finger, and a spring bearlng upwardly against the' receiving-cup, of a gravity lock normally conned in an opening in the sleeve, the cup having a groove traversed by the gravity lock, and a pocket at the outer end of the groove to receive the gravity lock when the sleeve is forced down to its limit, and the inger having a rece in position to register with the opening in the sleeve to receive the gravity lock when the parts are in their normal position, whereby the sleeve and nger are locked together.

8. The combination with a cap-iinger, of

a sleeve and a receiving-cup concentrically` mounted thereon, the sleeve and cup slidably connected with each other, and the lsleeve slidably mounted on the finger.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

s 1 SAMUEL KAYE.

Witnesses GEORGE H. CAMPBELL, LLOYD W. PATCH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

